Join Mobile Leaders from New England (and Beyond) on March 9 for Mobile Madness 2011—Getting Down to Business

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We all know that there’s no turning back on the path toward mobility. Sales of mobile devices will soon eclipse sales of PCs. By 2015—and probably sooner—the number of people accessing the Web from their phones and tablet devices will surpass the number using desktops and laptops. That doesn’t mean the PC and the desktop Web are going away. But it does mean there’s a slew of new ways to deliver software, services, and information to consumers and business people—and the resulting gold rush is redefining product strategies for everyone from the lone developer to giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

On March 9, Xconomy will set aside half a day to focus on the meaning of these changes for the entrepreneurial community. Mobile Madness 2011, to be held at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge, MA, will be our third big March mobile event in as many years, and one thing that’s clear to us is that the business questions around this technology are gradually coming into sharper focus. The question is no longer whether millions of consumers will adopt smartphones and tablet devices or even which ones they’ll use, but how entrepreneurs and businesses can use the winning platforms to deliver services that people want—and which types of services they will prefer. It’s not whether 4G broadband technologies will replace 3G, or even when, but who will take the lead, and how everyone else will adapt.

To dig into such questions, we’ll bring together the leaders of some of the most innovative companies on Boston mobile scene, including Apperian, Enterprise Mobile, Fig Card, SCVNGR, Skyhook Wireless, Vlingo, and Where. We’ve also recruited special guests from companies headquartered in Xconomy’s other hubs, including Google, Ondeego, Qualcomm, Ruckus Wireless, and Swype. And we’ll have mobile-savvy investors on hand, including Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners, Jamie Goldstein from North Bridge Venture Partners, and John Landry from Lead Dog Ventures.

We’ll share the full agenda and speaker list very soon. But I can tell you now that we’re planning a series of interactive panels and intimate chats delving into specific opportunities like 4G, mobile payments, and new smartphone interfaces. To spice things up, we’re inviting some of the region’s newest mobile players to give rapid “burst” presentations. And, in a reprise of last year’s hugely popular “smackdown” segment, we’ll unleash proponents of the leading location-based services platforms for a no-holds-barred debate referreed by the Lead Dog himself, John Landry. We’ll see who goes home as mayor of Mobile Madness 2011.